Meteorologist Joel Curtis prepared these slides for the Sitka Local Emergency Planning Committee. He went through them on the air during a live call-in on KCAW from 6:35 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 15. You can hear the show, here: http://www.kcaw.org/2013/01/14/whats-your-tsunami-story/

1. Sitka LEPC
Joel Curtis
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
January 10, 2013

2. Local Tsunami Threat
Quake 20 Seconds OR Difficulty Standing Up:
Don’t Wait Around, Get
to Higher Ground!

3. Early Saturday Jan. 5th
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000ejqv#summary
• 7.7M initially > 300 Miles Warning Area
• Strike-Slip Fault – needs a landslide
• Quake Felt – Widespread
• Final 7.5M
• Warning 2 Hours
• 50 Km moved
• 7 to 8 meters
• Aftershocks

4. Dip-slip strike-slip
earthquakes earthquakes
here have here have
produced large produced local
Pacific wide landslide
tsunamis tsunamis

5. Local Faults = Local Tsunamis
Gastineau Channel
Tongass
Narrows

6. 1972 Off Sitka

7. Sitka July 30, 1972 M7.6
• Few chimneys fell.
• Minor landslides.
• Slight damage Hoonah, Juneau, Pelican, &
Yakutat.
• Fairweather fault 75 kilometers moved
• Seiches swimming pools to Seattle.
• 19 aftershocks through August 29.
• A tsunami of 4 inches at Sitka.

8. Factors:
1)Earthquake
Magnitude
2) slope/
submarine stability
3) Solid matter
Displacement
4) Depth
5) Your Beach or
Estuary

9. Contact
Joel Curtis
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NWS Juneau
790-6803
Joel.curtis@noaa.gov

10. Contact
Joel Curtis
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NWS Juneau
790-6803
Joel.curtis@noaa.gov